Truce in Heaven, Peace on Earth
Tran Van Dinh

READING

Minh looked at the sea beyond. It was bluer than it had been on any other day of the whole journey. He imagined that a majestic Blue Dragon surged from the depths of the blue sea and with his ivory claws took all of them to the Isle of the Eastern Ocean where there would be no frontiers to cross or politics to tear people down.
The sky wasn't as clear as the day before. Isolated mountain-shaped white clouds began to appear. They brought to his memory a line by the famed Chinese Tang poet, Tu Fu:

In the sky, a cloud appeared as a white
cloth Suddenly, it turned- into a bluish dog.

Mihn didn't see any bluish dog. The white clouds now converged to tale the form of a huge attacking tiger. A cold wind blew. Minh smelt the odor of dead fish. He heard Thai voices but could not understand what they were," saying. A motorboat appeared suddenly alongside the junk, with three bronzeskinned men on board.
The tallest among them pointed a machine gun at Minh and asked loudly, "Vietnamese fleeing Communists?"
"Yes," Minh said, his teeth clenched. Before he could ask them if they were 11W Navy patrolmen, the man with the machine gun ordered his two revolver-carrying followers to jump over to Minh`s boat. One fired a shot in the air. "Thai bandits!" Minh shouted.
But it was too late. The bandits lined everyone up on the deck. While the machinegunner stood guard over the victims, his two aides searched all corners of the boat. They took one submachine gun that Don had had neither time nor the chance to use. Then all three searched the Vietnamese, who lowered their heads more in shame and anger than in fear. From the Chinese merchant they took gold ingots that were hung on his shoulders under his T-shirt. They stripped Trang of the brand new hundred-dollar bills that had been sewn so carefully under his coat, as well as removing his watch. Then the tall bandittook Xuan aside and led her down into the cabin.
Minh could hear Xuan's metallic voice screaming at the Thai bandit in Vietnamese as she struggled furiously. The attacker shouted in Thai, "Devil, stubborn woman, submit to me! You dare to try to kill me by biting my testicles? Submit or you'll soon see your ancestors in the depth of the seal"
A deadly silence followed. About five minutes later the bandit emerged, his hands stained with blood, his face scratched, carrying Xuan's broken body. Laughing he threw it into the blue water. He jumped back into his motorboat with his two accomplices and in a few seconds they had all disappeared into the white cloud-covered horizon.
Minh looked at the sky with imploring eyes. Indeed, the White Tiger cloud had now been transformed into an advancing bluish dog.
The sky darkened: The wind blew stronger and colder. Winter seemed to descend on the New Spring operation. Everybody wept and sobbed. For the next twelve hours, they all lay on the deck, numb with the misfortune that had befallen them. No one ate anything, no one said anything.
Late the next afternoon Trang called the passengers together.
"My friends," he said, "despite our misfortune we have reached out goal. Well be in Chantaburi no later than five o'clock. I have told you that the Prime Minister of Thailand is an old friend of our dear friend and brother, Doctor Minh. With your approval, I shall ask him to be out representative to the Thai authorities. We can celebrate the Tet's eve in Chantaburi, but I think it would be proper that we do so on our boat which is, according to international law;, Vietnamese territory."
With the end of their journey in sight, the passengers seemed to ha forgotten the nightmarish incident that had engulfed them in sorrow and despair the day before. They applauded Trang's announcement, and Minh was asked to speak
"I shall never forget, as long as I live, our boat family. I shall do everything I can to help all of you settle in the new lands of freedom, either in Thailand or America. Obviously, the situation here is very favorable to us because of my connection with the Prime Minister, but one always has to be careful about politics in Thailand. The Prime Minister reached power through a coup d'etat, and there could be a counter-coup at any time. When we arrive there, I'll contact the Prime Minister and see what his attitude to us will be." His short speech ended with several rounds of applause
Early in the evening the junk lowered its anchor off Chantaburi. Operation New Spring had come to an end. A police motorboat met the refugees. In Thai Minh asked the police officer to take him to the local army commander. Within half an hour, Minh and the police lieutenant were at the office of Colonel Amneuy Luksanand, commanding officer of the 25th Royal Thai Infantry Regiment. Minh explained the situation, reported the bandits' attack, and requested that he be allowed to contact the Prime Minister, his old friend Chamni. The colonel politely invited Minh to wait while he phoned Bangkok.
Minh was admiring a pot of blooming orchids when the colonel entered the living room.
"Professor, the Prime Minister is on the line. You can use the phone in my office."
Minh picked up the receiver. "Hello, Mr. Prime Minister. Congratulations."
"Stop it, Minh, I'm still Chamni, your old friend."
"But I'm now a boat person without a country, a wandering soul, as we say in Vietnamese."
"Forget about your boat and your wandering soul. You can stay in Thai- a land as long as you wish, as my government's guest. Thailand is now your country. Buddha will protect you. Ill have the colonel bring you to Bangkok tonight so you can have a good rest and we can meet for breakfast tomorrow. "As for your compatriot boat people, how many of them are there?"
"Nineteen, including me."
"They'll be given special consideration by the Ministry of Interior, but in the meantime they'll have to stay in a refugee camp. I'm sorry about that, but I can't change all the laws even as a Prime Minister. I have to leave for a meeting now. I'll see you tomorrow. Sleep well, my dear friend."
"Thank you and goodnight, Mr. Prime Minister."
The colonel invited Minh to have dinner with him before his trip to Bangkok by helicopter. Minh explained that because it was Tet's eve, he preferred to eat with his compatriots. The colonel quickly proposed that the whole group, be invited along to a Chinese restaurant. They accepted die invitation but they had no appetite: Minh had warned them before dinner that they would be temporarily sent to a refugee camp.